CLINTON GOES TO SCHOOL FOR LESSON

Jon MargolisCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Just a few minutes before and a few blocks away, Herbert Davis`s candidate, whose name he could not quite remember, had made Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) very happy by endorsing the ''Fairness'' reapportionment plan.

Like Tillman, whose agents were passing out copies of a statement, Herbert Davis did not much like Bill Clinton, thanks to what he had heard about him from his favorite, whose name was ''Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, I forget.''

Brown?

''Yeah, that`s it,'' he said. ''Jerry Brown. He looks like he means what he says.'' Well, a fellow who wants to invent things, as Herbert Davis does. can`t be expected to remember all this political minutiae.

But Clinton, scheduled to appear any minute, was not without his supporters. Tai Sellers said she was for him, and so was Matthew Brewer. ''I think it will come down to Clinton and George Bush,'' he said, demonstrating the analytical turn of mind of the lawyer he intends to be. ''And I like Clinton.''

Not one of them will vote Tuesday, but don`t think them apathetic. It`s just that they are, in order of appearance, 12, 10 and 11 years old. They are pupils who heard Clinton teach a lesson and who provided one of their own, as the days wind down toward the Illinois primary.

The lesson is that while all politics may be local, sometimes the best politics is less political.

Brown played local politics in a presidential campaign by endorsing the aldermanic reapportionment proposal supported by Tillman and most other black aldermen, as opposed to the one backed by Mayor Richard Daley.

At the same time, Paul Tsongas was practicing politics as usual. He spent some time outlining his economic policies, but almost as much attacking Clinton.

Clinton taught school. In the library of the Beasley Academic Center, he took off his jacket, put on the school sweat shirt he`d been given, and delighted the children, the teachers and the parents by asking ''why aren`t all schools this good?''

Beasley is not in one of Chicago`s garden spots. It`s in the 5200 block of South State Street, hard by the crime-infested Robert Taylor homes. There is hardly a nearby block without at least one vacant, burned out store or residence, and the school itself is surrounded by a fence to maintain security for the pupils.

But what is inside seems to be an oasis of hope, talent and opportunity amidst squalor. Beasley is a magnet school for bright children, kindergarten through 8th grade, from all over the city, mostly from the South Side, and all of them, apparently, black.

Clinton did not even try to pretend that his visit was non-political. He made a point of introducing Ald. Bobby Rush (2nd) and Chicago Teachers Union President Jackie Vaughn, both supporters of his. It was a campaign event, and a very clever one, not because he said anything unusual but because he did what few of this year`s candidates can do.

He connected with his audience. It was not a big audience, and about half of it was under age, but Clinton had reason to believe that the event would be broadcast, both over the air and by word of mouth.

And one reason he was able to connect was that he really knew the answer, or at least part of the answer, to his question. One reason Beasley is good is that it is strict.

All of which plays right into Clinton`s philosophy of ''opportunity and responsibility.'' He promised that if elected he`d do more for schools and for the poor, but he added, ''you can`t give somebody something for nothing.''

That got a big hand.

Clinton seemed to know something else which Brown, and Dorothy Tillman, probably don`t. ''This is a big deal,'' he said. ''A lot of people don`t believe there are any schools like this in big cities.''

His visit, he said, pointing to all the television cameras, could help spread the news.

These were what in other terms are often called a racial code words, appealing not to racial animosity but to pride.

While black political leaders jockey for more positions (which the remap Brown endorsed would give them) and argue for a more race-conscious government (as Tillman did in her statment blasting Clinton) the black rank and file continues to demonstrate its extraordinry tenacity through its devotion, against so many odds, to the plainest of middle-class values.

The black political leadership may flirt with radicalism. The portrayal of their neighborhoods on television and in the newspapers may emphasize crime, drugs, joblessness and other troubles, all of which are there.

But those neighborhoods also include pockets of quiet streets, neat homes and the kind of hard-working ambitious parents whose kids can get into Beasley magnet school. And it is by showing people that he understands this, far more than by meddling in city hall power plays, that a candidate can win votes in areas such as Chicago`s South and West Sides.

Efforts to reach Herbert Davis for comment to see if Clinton had convinced him to abandon his support of Brown were unsuccessful.